Overboard (film)

Plot

Spoiled, selfish heiress Joanna Stayton is accustomed to a wealthy life with her husband, Grant Stayton III. While waiting for their yacht to be repaired in the rural hamlet of Elk Cove, Oregon, she hires local carpenter Dean Proffitt to remodel her closet. He puts up with her rude and condescending attitude and produces quality work which is dismissed by her because he used oak instead of cedar, despite her not having specifically requested this at the start. He agrees to redo the closet if he is paid for the work he has already done; she refuses to pay and they have an argument, during which he notes that she is inventing things to complain about because her life is so pampered and boring. This is overheard by the yacht's crew on the intercom, who applaud him for telling her off. Their argument concludes with her pushing him off the ship.

That night, as the yacht sails away, Joanna goes on deck to retrieve her wedding ring and falls overboard. The next day, a story is aired on the local TV news about her having been picked out of the water by a garbage scow. She is suffering from amnesia and is taken to the local hospital, where no one can determine her identity. Once Grant discovers she has fallen overboard, he sails back to retrieve her. After seeing her mental state and her lashing out at hospital employees, he denies knowing her and returns to the yacht to embark on a spree of parties with younger women.

After seeing her story on the news, Dean, who is a widower living in squalor with four sons, seeks revenge by getting Joanna to work off her unpaid bill. He goes to the hospital and tells her that she is Annie, his wife of thirteen years and the mother of his four sons. Dean lacks legal documentation to take her home, but is granted her release by telling the hospital staff about a small birthmark on her buttock, which he saw on the yacht when she was wearing a revealing swimsuit. She reluctantly goes home with him and is appalled by his residence, but feels some obligation to pitch in, having come to think of herself as "Annie".

Joanna initially has difficulty dealing with Dean's sons and the heavy load of chores, but she soon adapts. As she masters her responsibilities, she learns about the boys' school and family issues and that Dean is secretly working two jobs to pay bills. She begins to fall in love with him and to develop motherly love toward his sons, and starts streamlining the money problems with more efficient budgeting. Joanna also convinces Dean to step up and be a father to his sons rather than simply be their friend, as his sons are doing poorly in school and struggle with literacy, yet he simply brushes these issues aside rather than fixing them.

Seeing Dean struggle, Joanna makes his dream come true by helping him design a miniature golf course based on her untapped knowledge of the Seven Wonders of the World. Although he has also fallen in love with her, he does not tell her the truth about her real identity for fear that she will leave. Billy, a friend who created doctored photos of the couple to cement the alibi of their prior relationship, tells Dean that his family needs Joanna.

Meanwhile, after Joanna's mother, Edith, threatens Grant (who has been continually lying that Joanna is "too indisposed" to talk to her), he reluctantly ends the partying and returns to Elk Cove to retrieve her, tracing her to the Profitt residence. She greets him and her memory instantaneously restores. She is shocked and hurt when she realizes that Dean lied and has been using her for months. She returns with Grant to the yacht.

Joanna now finds her old lifestyle pretentious. She apologizes to her butler, Andrew, for her spiteful treatment of him. He then helps Joanna to realize how happy she was with Dean and his sons. Joanna commandeers the yacht and turns back toward Elk Cove. When Grant finds out, he admits he never loved her. Dean and Joanna reunite.

Reception

The film was given a mixed reception from critics. Based on 24 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, around half of critics enjoyed it, with an average rating of 5.2/10. Variety praised Hawn's performance, but called it "an uninspiring, unsophisticated attempt at an updated screwball comedy that is brought down by plodding script and a handful of too broadly drawn characters." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called it "a deeply banal farce" with "one-dimensional characters, a good long look at her buttocks and lots of pathetic sex jokes." Roger Ebert liked it; while calling it predictable, he wrote: "the things that make it special, however, are the genuine charm, wit and warm energy generated by the entire cast and director Garry Marshall." The Los Angeles Times' review of it read: "The film tries to mix the two 1930s movie comedy strains: screwball romance and populist fable. But there's something nerveless and thin about it. Hawn and Russell are good, but their scenes together have a calculated spontaneity—overcute, obvious." The film has gone on to be considered a classic.

Box office

The film was generally considered a mild success, having grossed nearly $27 million domestically.

Re-imagining

In March 2017, It was announced that Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez will star in a re-imagining of the film, with Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher co-directing. The main roles are reversed from the original film. Derbez will portray a wealthy man who falls off of his yacht and is found by Faris' character, a single mother who convinces him that he is her husband. Filming began in Vancouver in May 2017. Eva Longoria joined the cast that month. The film is scheduled for release on April 20, 2018.